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Seniors, Rookie Dominate In Last Home Match

Unstoppable
Noor M.R. Beckwith

Originally published February 16, 2010: Co-captain J.P. O’Connor continued his undefeated season this weekend with a pair of major decisions. The senior, currently ranked first in the country, was honored with co-captain Louis Caputo at their last home match. O'Connor went on to complete a 35-0 undefeated season and won the 157 pound title at the 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

The Harvard wrestling team struggled to come up with wins this weekend, but its co-captains, J.P. O’Connor and Louis Caputo, dominated as they have all season.

Harvard (2-12-1, 0-3 Ivy) fought against tough opponents but lost in lopsided bouts to Brown in Providence, R.I. on Saturday and Lehigh at the MAC on Sunday. The Crimson fell in similar fashion both days, losing to the Bears, 33-12, before falling to the Mountain Hawks, 37-11.

Despite not coming through with a team victory, the captains and coach were still proud of the way the Crimson grapplers showed energy on Sunday given their difficult loss the day before.

“We did better this weekend than last weekend,” Harvard coach Jay Weiss said. “We were outmatched, but we wanted to just fight, and they fought better today [than against Brown]. If they do that, they’re going to make a progression. and that’s what we want.”

LEHIGH 37, HARVARD 11

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The Crimson suffered a tough loss to the No. 7 Mountain Hawks (14-3-1, 3-0-1 EIWA) on Sunday. In its final home match of the season, Harvard started off strong, but could not carry the momentum through all the matchups.

Freshman Steven Keith (125 lbs.) opened by defeating his opponent, 13-0. Keith got an early takedown and never looked back as he won by major decision. It was Keith’s 14th win of his first season with the Crimson.

“We get to choose what weight we want to start with, and I always start with 125 [pounds],” Weiss said. “I know [Steven] is going to go 100 percent and get fired up, no matter what.”

No. 1 O’Connor (157) continued his undefeated season, taking down his opponent Brian Tannen, 16-5, in front of a raucous home crowd. O’Connor notched takedown after takedown in a dominant performance. Every time Tannen looked ready to escape, O’Connor easily threw him to the mat, controlling his 24th win of the season from start to finish.

“Personally, I think I wrestled well,” a satisfied O’Connor said. “I just went out there and wrestled like I have been for four years now.”

No. 6 Caputo (184) finished off his home season strong with a 6-0 defeat of his opponent. After losing the past few times they have met, Caputo finally bested his rival, No. 15 David Craig.

“It felt really good today,” Caputo said. “It’s really neat to have this opportunity to have a rival and it’s great it went my way. It was a great opportunity and it was fun.”

But for the seniors, Sunday was the last day that they would step out in front of the home crowd, as the final match of the weekend marked Senior Day for Harvard.

“I honestly didn’t even think about it until one of my friends on the team said it was the last home match,” O’Connor said. “It kind of hit me, and I thought about it for a minute, but I tried not to think about it too much. It’s been a great ride and the season’s not over yet.”

BROWN 33, HARVARD 12

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